TL;DR
- Tether has entered into an agreement with a Big Four auditing firm for its first complete, independent financial audit.
- The company has previously only provided quarterly attestations, which are significantly weaker than a full audit.
- In 2021, Tether was fined a total of $59.5 million by U.S. authorities for misleading claims about its reserves.
- New U.S. stablecoin legislation (GENIUS Act, 2025) now mandates large issuers to undergo compulsory annual audits.
Stablecoin issuer Tether announced on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, that the company has formally engaged one of the world's four largest auditing firms — known as the «Big Four» — to conduct the first complete, independent audit of the company's financial statements, according to DL News. The specific firm chosen has not yet been disclosed.
From Attestation to Full Audit
Unlike a full audit, an attestation only provides a snapshot of a company's assets at a specific point in time. It does not examine internal financial controls, reporting processes, or the company's overall financial position over time — something that has long been criticized as insufficient for a company of Tether's size and systemic importance.
«Tether's claim that its currency was at all times fully backed by U.S. dollars was a lie» — New York Attorney General Letitia James, 2021
Historically, there have been serious questions regarding the methodology behind Tether's own reports. According to findings by U.S. authorities, Tether had sufficient fiat reserves for USDT tokens on only 27.6 percent of days during a 26-month period from 2016 to 2018. Additionally, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) alleged that Tether's sister company Bitfinex in 2017 transferred $382 million to its bank account just hours before auditors checked the figures.
Multi-Million Dollar Fines and Regulatory Requirements
In 2021, the New York Attorney General concluded that Tether had misled the market about the backing of USDT, resulting in an $18.5 million settlement and a ban from serving customers in New York State. The same year, the CFTC imposed a $41 million fine on the company for similar issues.
"Years of Work" Behind the Announcement
Tether's CEO Paolo Ardoino stated in connection with the announcement that the audit represents «years of work to strengthen our systems so that Tether can meet the highest standards applicable in global finance». According to the company, initial onboarding and review of internal controls and financial reporting were already completed a few weeks before the public announcement.
It is worth noting that in January 2026, Deloitte verified a reserve report for Tether's U.S. stablecoin USAT — issued in collaboration with Anchorage Digital Bank — confirming over 100 percent coverage. However, this was an attestation, not a full audit of USDT.
Legally Mandated, Not Voluntary?
The context surrounding the announcement is important: The adoption of the GENIUS Act in the U.S. in July 2025 introduced mandatory requirements for monthly reserve attestations and annual independent audits for large stablecoin issuers. The announcement on March 24, 2026, thus comes partly as a fulfillment of a legal requirement, not solely as a voluntary transparency measure.
Experts cited by Crypto Adventure emphasize that while a full audit will not end all debate about Tether overnight, it will move the discussion onto much firmer ground: the market will gain insight into reporting standards, controls, and financial presentation over time — not just a snapshot of whether reserves appear sufficient on a given day.
Critics, including the consumer organization Consumers' Research, have for years pointed to the absence of a full audit as a serious warning sign for market stability. Whether the upcoming audit will actually live up to the Big Four standard remains to be seen — the results are not yet published.
